Just a bunch of Hollyhock
by MJ Valentines
Summary: Post-Hogwarts, Hermione's life is stuck in a rut, the same old boring routine but she receives a bunch of flowers which brings with them an offer she really can't refuse. Written for Contrary-Miss-Mary's Flower Symbolism Challenge.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, obviously otherwise my name would be JK Rowling.

Challenge: Written for Contrary-Miss-Mary's Flower Symbolism Challenge. My flower prompt was Hollyhock.

* * *

Hermione Granger woke up at the same time every day. Hermione Granger had a cup of coffee whilst begrudgingly reading the latest Rita Skeeter articles in the Daily Prophet. Hermione Granger took a shower. Hermione Granger put on her navy work robes. Hermione Granger made it to the Ministry by 8:40. Hermione Granger approached her office door at 8:50.

It was the same routine everyday. Everyday for the last 3 years. And on everyone of those day she would pause outside her office door and stare at the golden placard and take a deep breath before opening the door.

* * *

_**Department of International Magical Cooperation**_

_**International Magical Office of Law**_

_**Hermione Granger**__ Assistant Liason Officer_

_**Draco Malfoy**__ Assistant Liason Officer_

* * *

True, working with Malfoy was nothing like their confrontations in school. Sure they would still bicker, but they were Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, if anyone thought they would become best friends they were seriously mistaken.

But he had changed. Spending so much time in close contact with the Dark Lord would change anyone. Whereas when he was younger he was spiteful and would start fights with her for no reason, nowadays he would tease her, joke around with her, even flirt with her on occasion. She didn't read anything into that of course. He was Draco Malfoy. Bachelor Extraordinare. She understood that to a man of such means and looks, flirting was just second nature.

Wrapping her hand around the large brass handle she pushed open the door and saw Draco behind his desk, as usual, with a file in hand and his feet on his desk, as usual, and a smirk on his face when he saw her walk in. AS USUAL.

As she walked into the room Hermione noticed a bunch of flowers on her desk. This confused her, Hermione only ever received flowers at work once a year and that was on her birthday but that was still a few months away.

"Flowers? For me? Oh Draco you shouldn't have" Hermione teased as she bent over the vase to enhale the sweet aroma.

"Don't worry Granger I would never dream of doing something so sappy."

"Nice to know some things will never change Malfoy."

She placed her bag on the floor and relaxed into her chair before moving the flowers to the edge of the desk.

"I wonder what kind of flowers these are anyways?" she wondered outloud.

"Pink ones?"

Hermione rolled her eyes,"Your powers of observation astound me Mr Malfoy!"

"I aim to please Miss Granger" Draco replied winking at her.

Hermione opened the small card that was resting ontop of the flowers.

"Hollyhock- a flower of fertility, ease of creation and abundance, a flower that says 'Make love a daily habit and something grand and imposing will arise'."

Draco cocked an eyebrow."That sounds like an interesting proposition!"

"It does?" she asked, unaware of where he was going with it.

"Make love a daily habit and something grand and imposing will arise"

"And how is that a proposition?" she enquired still confused.

"Oh Granger you really are as naïve as you appear. Make love, something Grand, Imposing," he lingered on those words oozing as much sex into his voice as possible.

Hermione faltered. "Oh" she whispered finally understanding what he meant.

Draco sat back in his chair, chuckling. Hermione was unaware that they had both started leaning towards each other as they were talking. He stood up and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm off to give this file to the Auror department. Want me to pass on a message to Pothead or the Weasel?"

"I've told you not to call them that!" she chastised.

"You can take the boy out of Slytherin but you can't take the Slytherin out of the boy" he responded as he walked out of the door.

* * *

Hermione sat outside the little café opposite the Ministry playing with her sandwich absentmindedly as Ginny was trying to get her attention.

"Hermione? Hermione! Is it Draco? Is he bothering you? She asked.

"What?" Hermione replied snapping out of her daydream. "No, no, he's fine. We get along pretty well now."

"That's good. I can't imagine what it would be like being stuck in an office all day with the Ferret. Although, it sure does give you a great view!"

"GINNY!" Hermione exclaimed.

"What? He's really hot! You can't deny it. You aren't on the cover of Witch Weekly almost every week for being average looking!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You can't judge a person just based on their looks!"

"Of course not, his insane intelligence and massive fortune definitely adds to his sex appeal!"

"Can we stop talking about this now!" asked Hermione nervously fiddling with her hair. Her face was growing warm with embarrassment.

Ginny just smiled at her innocent friend and moved on.

* * *

When Hermione came back from lunch she saw Draco perched on the edge of her desk fiddling with the card that came with her flowers.

She took him in as she paused at the office door. Ginny was right, he really was an impressive view. Shaking those thoughts out of her head she walked in and brushed passed him as she sat down at her desk.

"You know I was being serious about what I said earlier. These flowers do make an interesting suggestion." He mocked smiling down at her.

"Draco Malfoy, are you propositioning me?" she asked mimicking his mocking facial expression.

"So what if I am?" a teasing smile gracing his lips.

Hermione considered it. Then became utterly shocked at herself for even giving the ridiculous idea a second thought. Sure he was an attractive man. Even in school he was attractive but now he had grown up. His shoulders had filled out, his jaw had become more angular, his platinum blonde hair fell across his head in a way that only those in fashion magazines could. But he was still Malfoy! Could she actually do it? It had been a while.

Hermione wasn't exactly experienced in that sort of situation. A goodbye kiss from Victor when she was 14, a few sloppy awkward kisses with Ron after the Final Battle, a handful of uncomfortable dates set up by various friends who insisted she needed to 'get out more'. And here she was getting it offered on a plate.

"I'm sure you could use something grand and imposing in your life." He whispered raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"And where would I find something grand and imposing?" She asked trying to keep her voice steady, her flirtatious words felt foreign in her mouth.

"Oh love I have something grand and imposing right here. So what do you say Granger, are you up for being imposed on?"

She looked up to see his cool grey eyes sparkle with possibilities.

"Impose away Mr Malfoy."


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, obviously otherwise my name would be JK Rowling._

_Challenge: Written for Contrary-Miss-Mary's Flower Symbolism Challenge. My flower prompt was Hollyhock. _

* * *

Hermione sat at her desk looking up at the attractive man before her. Had she just agreed to this? What exactly is this?

"So what exactly is it you're suggesting?" She asked in her most authoritative voice.

Draco smirked at her obvious switch into business mode. "Well Miss Granger I propose that you and I have sex!"

Hermione visibly gulped causing Draco to smirk even more.

"Ok." She said tentatively.

"Would that be amenable to you?" He asked, his voice alight with a teasing tone.

"I don't understand why you're proposing this?" she managed to stutter out.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Well you used to hate me? How can you go from hating me to wanting to sleep with me?"

"Three years is a long time Granger. And I'm not one to hold onto petty school squabbles. I have grown up in the last few years, which is more than i can say for those friends of yours! The war changed a lot of people. It changes your perspective on things. You can't honestly think I'm the same guy that you went to school with?"

"Well...no not really."

"Exactly, we're two grown adults who can enter into an arrangement such as this."

"But why me?"

"Because I'm tired of all those vapid society girls. They're just all the same. I'm up for a change. Something exciting, something...feisty. And face it Granger, underneath those drab work robes, you're pretty hot!"

Hermione sat there aghast! Did Draco Malfoy just call her hot. Her? Hot? She'd never been called hot before. Sure her parents always said she looked beautiful and everyone said she looked nice when she got all dressed up for a fancy occasion but she'd never considered herself hot.

She ran her sweaty palms down her robes and looked at the floor to hide her blush.

"These robes are not drab!" she defended.

Draco laughed, "I just called you hot and you pick up on my insult of your wardrobe! Merlin, Granger you really are one of a kind."

"So how would we go about this exactly?" she asked quickly changing the subject.

"Well usually i would just whisk us back to mine so we could do the deed but seeing as we're at work and its the middle of the day i don't think thats really plausible. And considering you have more sense and dignity than the collective of all my dates in the last month i would assume you would like to be taken out for dinner first?" he suggested.

"Draco Malfoy are you asking me on a date?" Hermione asked, her confidence coming back slightly.

"Hermione Granger are you saying yes?" he countered.

She took a deep breath and banished all her internal on among that were telling her this was a bad idea. "I think i am" she nodded.

"I'll pick you up at seven then." He got up off the desk and walked across the three feet to his desk.

"Are you going to sit there and pretend its just a normal working day?"

"As much as i would love to sit and watch you feel all uncomfortable with the pretense of ignoring our plans i can't. I've got a meeting with the World Cup Commissioner this afternoon so you'll have to do without this...how did you phrase it? 'Lovely view'" he laughed as her jaw hit the floor. "I'll see you later Granger and dress nice" he said with a wink as he disappeard around the corner.

"Draco Malfoy you stay out of my head!" she shouted at his retreating figure.

Never trust a legilimens!

* * *

Hermione tried to forget about her 'date' this evening by busying herself with work but after finishing three reports, re-organising her desk and sharpening all her quills she was at a loss of what to do.

Her mind kept wandering to the date and the evenings 'activities'. How was she supposed to act? Was this supposed to be like a business meeting? Strictly professional? But how can something so personal between two people remain professional? Was it going to be like a real date then? Should she act like he was someone she was interested in? Where would he take her? Would it be somewhere public, like Diagon Alley? But then everyone would see them? People would ask questions? What would she tell them? She couldn't admit that she had entered into a sexual arrangement with her best friends' school nemesis! But he was right, wasn't it time to put school quarrels behind them. This would be a good thing, a way of moving forward...sure it was a very forward thing to do but it would be...mutually beneficial. But what if it wasn't? He was Draco Malfoy! He had slept with half of the wizarding world! What if she didn't meet his expectations? Sure he said she was hot but what if that was just to appease her so she'd accept. Oh Lord! What was she supposed to wear? She saw the things Malfoy's dates wore when their photos were splashed all over the papers. She couldn't dress like that! Did he expect her too? As she was mentally flicking through her wardrobe, disregarding everything, she was interrupted by someone calling her name.

"Miss Granger!" said Mr Kettleburn, her boss, as he walked into the office.

"What can i help you with sir?"

"Its not me dear, i just received this urgent letter about your neighbour Holly Hockwell."

Hermione raised her eyebrows, she lived in a building that only had 2 residents on each floor and so her only 'neighbour' was old Mr Fortesque that used to own the ice cream parlour in Diagon Alley. She had never heard of a Holly Hockwell but her eyes glanced over the vase of flowers that were still sitting on the edge of her desk. Rolling her eyes she took the letter from his outstretched hand knowing who it was from.

It read:

_Dear Miss Granger,_

_We regret to inform you that a terrible incident occured in your building of residence this afternoon. Your neighbour, Miss Holly Hockwell, was conductiong some experiments on ways to enhance a love potion. Unfortunately it caused a dreadful explosion destroying her potions room. We regret to inform you that this particular room backed onto the bedroom and living area of your own abode. This means you will have to find somewhere else to stay this evening. We hope this does not inconvenience you too much, there was mainly artificial damage but we would like to sense a surveyor out tomorrow to view the damage with you._

_Yours Sincerely_

_Dorothy Meadoworth_

Just as she was about to crumble up the letter she saw some writing appear at the bottom.

_**I hope you appreciate the alibi Granger, i thought you might need the day off tomorrow for...recooperating.**_

Hermione could almost read the smirk through the paper.

There was a small gold coin wrapped in the letter, as she slid it out another line appeared.

**_I thought you might need to make a stop somewhere before you went home._**

"Take the rest of the day off Granger, it looks like you're all finished up here anyway" he said looking round at the spotless office.

"Sir there really is no need."

"No Miss Granger I insist, you haven't taken a holiday in, we'll goodness I cant remember the last time."

Hermione blushed, it wasn't that she had no life, she just really enjoyed the work she did here. Being able to interact with wizards from all over the world and work together to create cohesive laws across the wizarding world was interesting to Hermione. But her enthusiasm for her work really had a detrimental effect on her personal life. Sure she had her friends from school who she saw on a regular basis but she didn't really have anything outside if that. Perhaps that's why Malfoy's offer was so appealing to her.

Rolling the coin in her hand she nodded at her boss before pressing the coin and letting the tugging sensation behind her navel carry her to wherever Malfoy seemed important that she should go.

* * *

As her feet hit the ground she tentatively opened her eyes and looked around to see where he had sent her. She was expecting a hair salon or a spa or even a lingerie store. What she didn't expect was to see a cozy little bedroom that she recognised.

It had light gold walls and a brown comforter on the bed, there were two sets of doors on one wall and a large window that looked out onto a cobbled square below. She heard a noise from behind one of the doors as it opened to reveal a woman carrying a basket of laundry.

"Ginny!" Hermione sighed in relief, that boy really did know her too well.

"Hermione? What are you doing here? Is everything ok?"

"Ginny I need to borrow an outfit."

"Why?" she asked, confusion spread across her face.

"I think I have a date...with Draco Malfoy!"


End file.
